Forward

The roofs, gutters, fascia project work is all done. It was a long month of very much activity around here, which was a good thing, but I am glad it’s done. Yesterday we put the pictures back on the walls inside (it was recommended to remove them during the roof replacement). Then we moved outside and started really assessing the gardens – what needs love this season.

The gardens here will be refreshed this fall. And we know a bush out front will be removed to make way for the new gutter drain system. So not too much extra work in the garden this season will be smart until we know what all that looks like. But we can do a few things. A little fun. Adding the garden decorations back, planting a gift of zucchini plants in a pot (we can’t grow veggies in the ground per townhome regulations), moving the green shamrock to a shady spot out front, and maybe, just maybe, a couple coneflowers to fill in a bare spot in the back garden. Hey, they were at the farmer’s market and they, how does the saying go, chose me ☺️

So, we put one foot in front of the other, and say thanks for the weekend of time to finally relax.

The clematis are now done blooming, as is the weigelia, and next up are the asian lilies. This is what some looked like a few days ago.

I remember when the garden out back was pink and purple asian lilies and (purple) Siberian irises – 19 years ago. The Siberian irises were a bit too crowding in the greenery department, and moved to my mother-in-law’s much larger garden. But the asian lilies are still there – they came up peach year two and have been peach ever since. For 18 years. Multiplied and divided and new growth started. Just consistently showing up each year in the same area in the back gardens. Nice.

I added pink Asian lilies year three in another area in the back gardens, and those multiplied and divided and I started new groupings. Every year they come up in the same areas. Nice.

A friend and I swapped divisions of our Asian lilies, and I got some tall white lilies from her. Every year they come up in the back gardens too. Very nice.

Under the linden, the deep pink Asian lilies are also a fixture.

And out front one pink Elodie stand still remains. Asian lilies do not have as much staying power out front, but that one bunch continues.

Much is the same, and much is up in the air. But little by little, we move forward.

It looks like the peach daylilies will kick off the color show.

Trees update

We have three types of trees by us at the townhouse – a pine of some variety, a linden, and an amur maple. The pine just got done shedding it’s covering on the new needles and we can see the new growth easily.

That is always neat. Within a few weeks it will become the color of the other needles.

The linden is also sporting lighter colored leaves and the beginning of it’s flower buds. That is also cool to see. We enjoy it for that short time because it seems that soon after the linden flowers, the Japanese beetles arive. Uggghhh. We do have a service that sprays, but it is only effective for a while, and it seems the spray can no longer reach the top of the tree. Poor tree 😦

The Amur Maple is now blooming. Oh my gosh! I wish I could bottle that scent! So awesome!

New seedling planter

I recently had a milestone birthday. The kids, as always, asked what I would like. I told them I wanted something special that would be fun for years. I asked for a long rectangular planter with a squirrel and bunny proof lid to grow my daylily seedlings each year.

Wow! It is beautiful, and perfect for me!

They bought the planter part, and put that together, and then designed and built the squirrel and bunny proof part. The top is built with a lip on the frame so it doesn’t slide around, and it just lifts off, so no hinge, no chain, and no tipping if there is no weight in it yet each spring.

I want to be able to move it at leisure, so no dirt directly in it either. (They brought me 3 buckets of dirt from the local garden store.)

I used to plant the seeds indoors in March, and have a table of seedlings indoors for 10 weeks, but last year I said no to that, and now plant all of the seeds from the same parent together in a pot (or two if there are a lot from that plant). I do that in late May, because we can get frost even until Memorial day, and I want those plants to be hearty. They get covers until germination and about an inch or so of seedling, and then – open air. I know – but last year I had a bumper year compared to other years with other methods.

This year I used five plant pots – two pots with seeds from Purple d’Oro, one with seeds from Marque Moon, one with seeds from China Doll, and one with seeds from South Seas.

I identify the parent plant just for fun, but, in reality last year’s seedlings all got planted in one new garden, with no markers identifying the parent plants. I know! 😦 But I’m not the propagator. The bees and birds are. I’m just in it to see what happens. So far a lot of greens, but no blooms. Yet. Still fun 😊

I only have one daylily from the direct sow years. It is four years old. I am hoping it finally blooms this year.

“Baby” from “South Seas” parent, surrounded by forget-me-nots that will bloom next year.

I have 15 plants from the potting method – three from two years ago when they were started indoors, and a dozen from last year when they were started in a “community pot” of same parent, outdoors. All still waiting to bloom. Some still tiny.

This takes patience – haha!

But it is fun.

Hats off. Weekend fun.

The buckets and plant pots that protected the daylilies, hostas, and sedum during the roofing project are off, but will have one more appearance in the next couple weeks when the gutter and fascia work is going on.

After that very long, hard to wait but dreading the potential collateral damage May, it was great to get back in the garden.

First up was removing the remainder of the tree seedlings. That got done yesterday. The total of buckets this year was down from the past few years – 5, compared to the usual 7. Hurray!

The dying tulip greens that got smooshd also got pulled. They were done anyway.
sadly, also a daylily piece from the project smoosh, but next year …

Then the pollinator created, harvested daylily seeds from 2021 finally got planted. Another post on that coming soon.

The sunflower seedlings also all got pulled. They were an experiment, but the rolling roofing dumpster made that decision for me. My husband was very happy – hahaha!!!

Today my thoughts turned to the front entry garden. It needs love.

One of the Blue Mouse Ears hostas out back also got a little smooshed with the roofing project. That was ok because it needed to be divided anyway, and the flowers get hit by the sprinkler, so moving the whole plant is probably a good idea. Blue Mouse Ears are the perfect size for the entryway area, and with dappled sun due to the Amur Maple they will look great for years to come. That area also had the remnant of a Rainforest Sunrise hosta I mostly moved up north, but it got a bit smooshed too so this will not be it’s shining year. I had to cut away the smooshed leaves. No worries, it will pop back next year. But besides a center hosta and the few Blue Mouse Ears divisions, and the low growing sedum, what to put in that area for color? No to annuals I think. Daily watering – ugghhh. That is for bird baths – haha! No to sedum divisions – the two low growing sedum are enough. Asian lilies seem to die out there, and the stems are not great after bloom either. They require layering to cover those up. So it may be daylilies. I am concerned about the dappled sun, but maybe. Still contemplating.

Finally, the center of one of the back garden areas was pretty bare. Plenty of baby forget-me-nots that will bloom next year, but it needs something additional. I pulled a nice daylily from there to go up north last year, and right afterward I saw how bare that area was and regretted it. Bummer. So that area needs love. But low investment. Trying out the green shamrock. Not sure. Might need a trip to the garden store.

So that was the weekend garden fun. Super enjoyed it.